Italy has once again made the most of having two competent and committed Fed Cup players, wiping out the Czechs 3-0 when Flavia Pennetta put down Petra Kvitova 7-6(3), 6-2. Pennetta and another longtime Fed Cup player, Francesca Schiavone, also won their singles matches on Saturday.
It’s the fourth time in the last five years that Italy has reached the final, but this was the team's first opportunity to play at Rome’s historic Foro Italico. “I was really nervous because everybody expected this point but I did my best and tried to fight from the beginning to the end – and here we are in the final again,” said Pennetta.—M.C.